Jean Godden: "The best Bicycle Master Plan will be the one that gains local neighborhood support"

It's official! Thanks to your support and many emails to councilmembers, the Seattle City Council Transportation Committee today voted to recommend adoption of the new Bicycle Master Plan! The plan now moves on to a full council hearing on Monday, April 14, at 2 p.m.

In the meantime, help us send 1,000 emails to the city council in support of the new Bicycle Master Plan. Your emails are being received and read. See Councilmember Jean Godden's response here:

Dear Cascade Bicycle Club Members,

Thank you for your emails regarding the recommended Seattle Bicycle Master Plan. I am happy that you have been following its progress and support the updated BMP. As you may know, the Bicycle Master Plan legislation passed out of committee today.

This plan has the opportunity to increase public health and extend the reach of our public transportation system, while at the same time, decreasing pollution and bike-related accidents. Most importantly, it aims to actively engage the public in both participation and implementation. A complete PDF of the recommended plan is available on the BMP webpage. The resolution regarding its progress, implementation, and direction to the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) can be found here.

We’ve heard loud and clear from the Cascade Bicycle Club, and your input has been received! This new plan takes into account all of your comments, concerns, and suggestions and focuses on five main goals: ridership, safety, connectivity, equity, and livability. The updated BMP is a great guide for moving forward with keeping Seattle citizens active and on the move. However, I believe that a large focus of the implementation of this plan must be devoted to a process that is dynamic and allows for public input. Section five of the resolution pertains to heeding citizen feedback and making design adjustments to balance the many interests involved.

It is very important that SDOT takes the spirit and intent of the public engagement portion of the plan to heart.. The best Bicycle Master Plan will be the one that gains local neighborhood support through an inclusive project design process. Thank you again for contacting me. I am tracking this subject closely and want to make sure we do what is right for Seattle neighborhoods and citizens.

Please let me know if I can provide additional information or if I may provide other assistance to you.

Sincerely, Jean Godden Seattle City Councilmember

Let's show city council that this plan indeed has "local neighborhood support". Join us for the Full Council hearing on Monday, April 14, at 2 p.m. RSVP>>>